Floridian Rookies: Beto Ydrach

Born: May 21, 2001 in Orlando, FL

Current Team: Pittsburgh Riverhounds

Connection to Florida: born and raised here, he played for the Orlando City Academy and UCF before starting his professional career elsewhere

Like many Floridians, Beto Ydrach grew up with Puerto Rican roots. Unlike others, though, he has gone on to such heights in the sport of soccer to represent the island internationally. Born and raised in Orlando, he started his road to the pros in the youth system of Major League Soccer side Orlando City. Ydrach had a spell in the esteemed academy of the New York Red Bulls before returning to his home state for college, joining the University of Central Florida in the fall of 2019.

After a redshift year, Ydrach stuck it out through the Covid pandemic and started to reach new heights the following year. After being named to the American Athletic Conference All Tournament Team, the Orlando-native made his debut for the Puerto Rican senior national team in the 2022-23 CONCACAF Nations League. Mostly playing as a midfielder during this time, he would continue to receive call ups to play in international tournaments. In 2024, Beto scored his first goal for Puerto Rico in the 8-0 demolition of Anguilla in 2026 World Cup qualification.

Undrafted after his senior season, the young Puerto Rican international transferred to the University of Akron for a graduate course during his fifth year of eligibility - a byproduct of the Covid pandemic. After moving to the backline for the Zips, Ydrach was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year and listed on the First Team All-East Regional side along with four teammates. His hard work in the college ranks was finally starting to pay off with looks among professional clubs in the US. After the end of his final NCAA season, Beto joined the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the USL Championship, the second tier in American soccer, in February 2025.

Described by his new coach Bob Lilley as being “comfortable on the ball and mak[ing] good decisions when defending,” Ydrach has gone from strength to strength with the Riverhounds. He started their first game of the season, a 1-1 draw against North Carolina FC, and hasn’t looked back. In fact, he has been in the starting XI for Pittsburgh in nearly every game so far in 2025. He earned Team of the Week honors in the league at the beginning of April.

Beto continues to represent Puerto Rico, earning a call up for the last international window in March. At time of writing, the island territory sits second in Group F of the Second Round of World Cup qualifying for CONCACAF. With two huge matches coming up in June, moving on would bring Puerto Rico the closest to the World Cup they’ve ever been on the men’s side. A 0-0 draw away to El Salvador, in which Ydrach came off the bench, highlights the progress made by the side. El Huracán Azul will be dreaming of new heights if they can keep up these results this summer.